In 2009, an international team of researchers identified nine planetary boundaries that demarcate the remarkably stable state Earth has remained within for 10,000 years—since the dawn of civilization. These…Continue readingSafe planetary boundary for pollutants, including plastics, exceeded
Tag: biodiversity
Deforestation last year rose to the highest level since 2015 in Brazil’s Cerrado, prompting scientists on Monday to raise alarm over the state of the world’s most species-rich savanna…Continue readingBrazil: deforestation jumps in world’s largest savanna as scientists raise alarm
Queensland landholders are clearing the equivalent of about 1,000 Melbourne Cricket Grounds a day, including endangered ecological regions, according to state government data that raises new doubts about the…Continue reading‘Carbon bomb’: Queensland, Australia, reveals big jump in land clearing
Land-clearing for crops in the Murray-Darling basin, the main winter breeding ground for the moths, Severe drought in the breeding grounds, Increased use of pesticides such as neonicotinoids in…Continue reading‘A 99.5% decline’: what caused Australia’s bogong moth catastrophe?
While driving an electric car has fewer environmental impacts than gasoline-powered cars, the production of the parts necessary for these green technologies can have dire effects on human well-being.…Continue readingCobalt’s human cost: Social consequences of green energy must be assessed in addition to environmental impacts
Scientists estimate that 16.9 million vertebrates were killed by fires in the Pantanal wetlands, Brazil, between Jan & Nov 2020. Sampling likely excluded species incl. jaguars, pumas & tapirs,…Continue readingAlmost 17 million vertebrates killed in the 2020 wildfires in Brazil
The Arctic continues to warm more than twice as fast as the rest of the globe. Summer 2021 saw the second-lowest amount of older, multi-year ice since 1985, and…Continue readingHumanity continues to degrade the Arctic
Almost two-thirds of the hundreds of mollusc species that live in the deep sea are at risk of extinction, according to a new study that rings another alarm bell…Continue readingDeep-sea mining may push hundreds of species to extinction
Among the species listed is the bogong moth. Scientists have detected steady declines in numbers of bogong moths since the 1980s. But in 2017 and 2018 that crashed to…Continue reading124 Australian species added to endangered species list
A record manatee die-off in Florida this year has become so dire that federal officials are taking a once unthinkable step — feeding the wild marine mammals to help…Continue reading15% of Florida’s manatee population has died this year due to human activity
The warming of the planet is taking a deadly toll on seabirds that are suffering population declines from starvation, inability to reproduce, heat waves and extreme weather. One estimate…Continue readingHuman greenhouse gas emissions kill seabirds
The red list of Britain’s most endangered birds has increased to 70 species. Birds are placed on the red list either because their populations have severely declined in Britain,…Continue readingBritain wildlife is in freefall with 70 of 245 bird species now seriously at risk
216 out of 1,299 species are threatened – up from 195 in 2011 – with the climate crisis pushing more birds on to the list or increasing the threat status of…Continue readingOne in six Australian birds are now threatened
The Black Summer forest fires of 2019–2020 in Australia burned more than 24 million hectares (59 million acres), directly causing 33 deaths and almost 450 more from smoke inhalation. Nearly 3…Continue readingForest fires in Australia are worsening
Climate change and warming waters are pushing black-browed albatross break-up rates higher. Typically after choosing a partner, only 1-3% would separate in search of greener romantic pastures. But in…Continue readingHuman emissions causing increasing rates of albatross break-ups
The 13,235 square kilometers (5,110 square miles) of forest lost from August 2020 to July 2021 was the largest swath since 14,286 square kilometers were cleared in 2005-06. The…Continue readingBrazil Amazon deforestation up 22% in a year; a 15 year record
From a study published in 2019: Biodiversity of insects is threatened worldwide. Our work reveals dramatic rates of decline that may lead to the extinction of 40% of the…Continue readingOver 40% of insect species are threatened with extinction
Las Tablas de Daimiel is a unique wetland in the vast, almost treeless plains of Castilla-La Mancha in central Spain, but the park has had the life sucked out…Continue readingThe true cost of growing food in Spain’s arid south
One of every six birds – a net loss of 600 million breeding birds in total – have disappeared over less than four decades. The study by scientists from…Continue readingHumans kill off 1 in 6 birds in the EU and UK
The US and Canada have lost more than one in four birds – a total of three billion – between 1970 and 2019, culminating in what scientists who published…Continue readingHumans kill off 1 in 4 birds in the US and Canada
If global warming is kept to 1.5˚C, the mix of corals on the Barrier Reef will change but it could still thrive, said the study’s lead author Professor Terry…Continue readingAustralia’s Great Barrier Reef will survive if warming kept to 1.5˚C
Earth now faces a global extinction crisis never witnessed by humankind. Scientists predict that more than 1 million species are on track for extinction in the coming decades. Every…Continue readingThe Extinction Crisis
Nearly 21,000 monitored populations of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians, encompassing almost 4,400 species around the world, have declined an average of 68% between 1970 and 2016, according…Continue readingAnimal populations worldwide have declined nearly 70% in just 50 years
Nature is being destroyed at a rate never before seen in human history, that rate is accelerating and almost all of the destruction is caused by humans. Australia is ranked third…Continue readingBiodiversity loss caused by Australian society
An international team of researchers has created a model that estimates the effects on the world’s oceans over the past century by fish and their excrement. The model showed…Continue readingModel suggests fish fecal carbon sequestering in the ocean has declined by half over the past century
Protecting trees is key to meeting ambitious climate goals, with tropical rainforest loss accounting for about eight percent of annual carbon dioxide emissions, according to monitoring platform Global Forest…Continue readingUN deforestation prevention scheme collapses
Almost half of Britain’s natural biodiversity has disappeared over the centuries, with farming and urban spread triggered by the industrial and agricultural revolutions being blamed as major factors for…Continue readingNearly half of Britain’s biodiversity has gone since industrial revolution
In the nearly half-century since the U.S. Endangered Species Act came into force, only 11 other species have ever been delisted because they disappeared. A million plants and animals…Continue readingThe Anthropocene causes 23 species to be declared extinct
Koalas 30% decline of total population in 3 years; the state of New South Wales was worst with a 41% decline in 3 years. Now extinct in 47 electorates…Continue readingAustralian society devastating wildlife
The world’s coral reef cover has halved since the 1950s, ravaged by global heating, overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction, a trend that is projected to continue as the planet…Continue readingHalf of global coral cover destroyed since the 1950s
260 Spanish troops are assisting firefighters battling a raging blaze that has emptied out villages and burned through forestland for days. “We have talked for a long time about…Continue readingMilitary deployed to fight fires in Spain
Efforts to halt decline of population & diversity of animals & plants have largely failed. 28% of the 138,000 species assessed by the International Union for the Conservation of…Continue readingHumans causing species to lurch towards extinction
The pollution, emissions and clean-up costs of plastic produced in 2019 alone exceeded the annual GDP of India. It estimated that unless there is concerted international action, this cost…Continue readingSocial cost of 2019’s plastic more than GDP of India
Climate change-induced warming in the Gulf of Maine has resulted in the population of the North Atlantic right whale to plummet, leaving the species critically endangered. Right whales have…Continue readingNorth Atlantic right whales critically endangered by the Anthropocene
Trillions of polymetallic nodules litter Earth’s ocean floors. Each is rich in manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper; some of the most important metals for manufacturing low carbon technology. Mining…Continue readingIs deep-sea mining a cure for the climate crisis or a curse?
If climate change continues at its current rate, more than 98% of emperor penguin colonies are expected to become quasi-extinct by the turn of the century. Scientists’ near-term predictions were equally…Continue readingVirtually all emperor penguins doomed for extinction by 2100 as climate change looms, study finds
A conservation group recorded the video after a heatwave in the Pacific north-west on a day when water temperatures breached 21˚C (71˚F).Continue readingVideo shows salmon injured by unlivable water temperatures after heatwave
“We saw damage almost everywhere, from the Bahamas to the Great Barrier Reef.“ Corals can become stressed when temperatures around them rise just 1˚C (1.8˚F) above their tolerance level.…Continue readingWorld’s coral scientists warn action is needed now to save even a few reefs from climate change
“Ecosystems are going to change in ways that are really difficult to predict. We don’t know where the tipping points are.”Continue reading‘Heat dome’ probably killed 1 billion marine animals on Canada coast
Total mean annual forest loss in Southeast Asia was 3.2 million hectares per year during 2001–2019, with 31% occurring on the mountains, and is accelerating.Continue readingUpward expansion and acceleration of forest clearance in the mountains of Southeast Asia
A 2017 study in Germany was one of the first to raise global alarm about the loss of insects. It found that the biomass of flying insects across German…Continue readingGerman climate, insect protection laws cross finish line
“We humans, we have to listen to the laws of nature and face up to the reality that we’re causing our own misery.”Continue readingOceanographer Sylvia Earle on the need for sea conservation
85 to 94% loss by 2050 of Great Ape’s habitat, mainly due to resource extraction for mobile phones, timber and palm oil. “What is predicted is really bad”Continue readingGreat apes predicted to lose 90% of homelands in Africa
“While 63% of reefs are projected to continue to accrete by 2100 under the low-impact pathway, 94% will be eroding by 2050 under the worse-case scenario,” Dr Cornwall said. “And no…Continue readingTime running out to save coral reefs
The nightmare scenario: Year 2100, global waming exceeds 4˚C:→ Massive frequent wildfires→ Dead coral reefs→ Frequent prolonged droughts→ Increased air pollution→ Ice-free Arctic summers→ Rapid sea level rise→ Abandoned small…Continue readingClimate change: how bad could the future be if we do nothing?
Populations of migratory freshwater fish have plummeted by 76% since 1970, and large fish – those weighing more than 30kg – have been all but wiped out in most…Continue readingGlobal freshwater fish populations at risk of extinction
“We found the number of small, medium and large corals on the Great Barrier Reef has declined by more than 50% since the 1990s,” said co-author Professor Terry Hughes,…Continue readingThe Great Barrier Reef has lost over half its corals